Pick-up table for mail-matter.



No. 857,990.- TATENTED JUNE. 25, 19o?.-

G. A. GAST/TAN & J. T. LYNCH. PICK-UBTABLE PoR MAIL MATTER.

APPLIQATION FILED JAN. 3. 1905.

entrain sri-tiens GEORGE A. CTASMAN AND JOHN T. LYNCH,

TO TIME MARKING MACHINE COMPANY, OI"

ri-@NYE OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A COR PORATION OF THE DISTRICT'OF COLUMBIA.l

PICK-UF' TABLE FOI-i WIELEtATTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

.Patented June 25, 1907.

Application tiled January 3,1905. Serial No. 239,490.

certain new and uselul improvements in Fick-Up iables l'or Mail-Matter, of which the following is a description, reference beingl had to the accompanying drawings, forming` a part et' this sincilieation, in which corresponding letters ol rel'erenee in the dillerent'` ligures indicate like parts.

The primary object ol our inveutiou'is to provide a` pick-up table l'oir sorting, lacing and staclvlingl mail .matter` which shall he so arranged and constructed that a single sepa* rating mechanism may be employed for mail pieces of ay given size or less, in conjunction with an indelinite number ol' feeding pockets, said pockets being so arranged and const rueted in conjunction with a. eonvever, that mail pieces ol dill'ercut sizes, as predetermined bv the operator, ma)r be directed to dill'erent separators and separatei) stacked.

Further objects are to provide novel means for separating` one, mail piece, l'roni another during their passage to the stacker', and lor stacking the same in such a way as to avoid the clogging or crumpliiig ot' the mailpieces, all ot which is hereinafter more particularlyr described and delinitel)Y Vpointed out in the claims. i i

In the drawings, l `if :ure,l, is a pian View of a pori-ion ol.' a picleup table, conveying, separating and. stackingr mechanism, embodying;1 the l'eature's ol' our invention, portions ol' said table beingl broken awa)l to show the con-- vcying mechanism, Fig. 2, is a longitudinal Vertical sectional view thereol' talten upon the line 2**2, Fit'. l, viewed in the direction olE the arrow there shown7 and Fig. 2l, is a sectional view' tailten upon the line 3*2), Fig'. .2.

llelerring lo the drawings, l represents a.

.fla-t table ol' indelinite length and the usual width ol' about live l'eet. Mounted upon suitable drums 2, located al opposite. ends ol' the table,v one ol' which is shown in Fig. 2, is a horizontal con\f'e}'iug.belt il, the upper face of which is located at a dist ance beneath the. table corresponding to somewhat more than the width olI ordinaiwY small sized mail pieces. The carrying' belt .is arranged `parallel with the edge ot the table, a `portion being beneath and a portion extending beyond said edge as shown in Fig. I. The outer edge of said belt is housed by means of a wall Lt. While above the inner edge is located a Wall 5, said walls servint)r as guards or shields for the mail pieces in the respective chutes. A se ries ot two or more depending sheet-metal dellectiinT )lates (i. are attached to vthe edee e l i? oll the table and extciidod .down to within close proximity to the belt. The rear end et each plate 6 is curved outwardly as shown at t and is joined to the body oll a parallel plate S, the rear end ol'Y which is provided with a reverse or inward curve t), the rea-r end of the part S heing platet about midway between the ends of the latter, Intervening cross braces 10 serve to strengthen the connections between the parts described. This arrangement 0f the parallel plates serves to form a series of hoeltets tl, l2, the outlets olI 'iach oi` the former leading to the runwa)Y or chute 13, intended loruthe smaller mail pieces, while those l'rom' t he'latter load to a` runwaT M, intended l'or the larg-er mail pieces, the curved parts T forming `dellecting surfaces for shunting, the mail l'rom the pockets 11,

while the parts t) bear the saine relation to the. pockets l2.

attached to the preceding I line'cd at l5 to the l'orward end of the fori ward partition are dellectingl plates t6, I7, the l'oimer lor dellectincV the mail pieces from the chute i3 into a separating' mechanism provided there''or, and the latter into a like separating; mechanism lor the chute t4. A spring 18 is interposed between the dellccting plates It, i7 l'or the purpose ol' retaining each with a yielding pressure in ay normal position. The separatingl niecnanisni for the chute 123 consists ot' a series oll leed rollers 19, 2t), 2l and LZ2, the latter ol which is mounted upon a driving shalt 23 connected with a source ot power. The several shalts of the rollers mentioned, which are in alinenient, are provided upon their lower ends with gears as shown in Fig". 2, which are so proportioned and connected in a well known way, to rotate the several leed rollers named inthe same direction.

Located opposite the feeding roller I9 is an idler 24, the shaft of which is mounted in yielding bearings and is sustained in its normal position by means of a spring 25.

BOO

` groups ol' slacking vani-s are guide-ways 5 Mounted upon short shafts pulleyb` 2%, 2", the shalts ei which are iournaled in the usual way in slidinjr bloc-ke arranged to move indepeiidently at right anglee to the plane oi the axea ot the wheels 2i. and 22. Springs lti, 23.1. serve to hold said blocks` in their respective normal positions, (one end resting against. a blocli 132 attached to tite tranne. A triction belt 253 is mounted upon vsaid pulleys. by means or suitable geare 33u, ing with gears 2525*), upon the lower ende` ol the shalt ol the pulley 2U) at a lower rate oil speed than that oi the Fit'. Si, (meeh- Wheels 20, 21, and in a reverse direction. An

idler 34, is also placed opposite the wheel 22. contacts with the stack ol' mail pieces 67.

Said pulleys arc driven l one ot which .shown Mounted upon a series: ol' short- Yertical shafts 35, 3h, .57 and 58, which are connected by means ol interineshing gears and arranged to rotate in unison, are a series ol curved oe- Hector varies 239, 4U, l and $2, two beine plaeyediupon the snai 255 andl I5T respectively, and one upon each ci the remaining straits so that said vanes may overlap and pass; each other in operation. The Yanes upon the Shaft 37 are larger than any in the group,"Y

those upon the shait Z135 being; the smallest. g

The shafts are so placed that the ends ot the Varies b9, Lt() and -tl are in a plane at. an angle to that of the letter pat-h between the teed rollers, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. i, the direction ol' said angle beingi reversed after passing` the vane 4l.

The shalt 3T is provided with a sprocket wheel 43, which is connected by means oi a sprocket-chain i4 to a like wheel -l upon the driving shaft 223.

The separating mechanism lor the chute 14 corresponds exactly to that described lor the chute 13 except'that the iced-rollers #15,

47, 4S and 4.9 are placed upon the outside to.

Extendingr laterally lrom the respectiveis, and 59, 5f), each oi' which is provided wit h parallel vertical walls. hdes (Si) and til are arranged to move in said einde-ways respectively, the l'oriner beingv connected by means y olI a cord 32 to a. weight, ti, said cord being trained over a p-iilloy o4, -s indicated in doi ted lines in Fig: l, like cord o.

over a like pulley olf, as indicated in dotted lines and connected with a weight not` show n.

The operation ol' said device is The inail pieces ol' less than a. prf-ileiernnned rained ass l'ollows4 l "lo produce this result.

pockets li, 'lrom whence they are convey-'ed by the beltthrough the chute 'l toithe leed-rolls, The shield lo as well as the idler lm yields to con'lorm to the thickness ol the mail pieces which are more or less separated therebyfLA Vthe separation bein.;r completed by the rctardine belt i. The l'act that the bearings ol said belt pulleys are arranged to move independently, we have found to be a very important vl'actor in separating mailpieceev ot varying' thickness. As each mail piece passes the last 'pair of leed-rollers, it is deflected by the lirst vane upon the angle indicated in dotted lines until itis` forward end The rotation oi the several pieces continue to advance it until its end abilita against the wall ol' tlieguide-wav. 'lheobjectol' the several vanes operai int;- in the mannendescribed is to strike the mail piece in di'll'erent places through-out its length and thereby prevent bendingl or crumplinp'. rl`he diagonal arrangement el' the mail pieces in the slide, in conpmction with the construction and arrangement ol' the several Yanes aids greatlyI Vive have found in practice that wet or slimy mail can be handled with the utmost ell`ecti\'eness,but itis important that the number ol' revoluble Yanes should conform to the length of the mail pieces admitted to a given chute and f* 'I' m, la, lig. l, 0.10 E sitze are dropped edgewiee into any one oi the that the vane of larger diameter should be at or near the middle oi' the series. The weighted sliding followers are also o'l' importance in that they always more toward the Stack to .support it in case any mail-pieces are reimored, and when all are removed, return to anormal position. l

',iiavine' thus described our invention, we clain.:

1 in a device ol' the class described` the Combination -ol a .series ol leed-pinl elel l'ot' reeeirin;r mail-pieces. said. pockets being in communication with a. chute or runway, means'l'or conveying the mail-pieces to a common separator, a .separator common to all ol' said pockets and a stacking mechanism.

2. lli a. device oll tbe class described, the combination ol a series ol' hoppers or l'cedpockets arranged 1o communicate wilhzL chute or rtmway, means common lo bolli said hoppers and chute i'or con\ vying articles `.'bpwilrd in said hoppers to a common sepai rator, a separator common to all ol' sald pockets and mechanism l'or stacking; said articlcs.

Il. A stackingr mechanism consisting ol a series ol' revoluble w ing-cd dci cctors aryinpr in size or diameter with the larger dellcctot' at or itt-nl' the middle ol' the series; in combi nation with meansloi-conveyingtheretoarlil 'the combim-.ion with a picli-up-tabley ia inail-chute and .separating mechanism, oll a lOO singes@ stacking mechanism, consisting of e series or revoluble winged deflectors varying in size with the larger deector at or near the middle et the series. i

The combination with a pick-notable, s Inail-chute and sepa-rating mechanism, of e stacking mechanism consisting of revoluhle delectors having curved del'lecting' wings, 'the axes of said deie-ctor's hein; placed in :tlineinent while the wings of the different dellectors vary in length from' short to long and from long to short in the successive order of their grouping.

6. The cornhnn/tion with a pick-Lqteble,V it mail-chute and separating mechanism, of af stacking mechanism consistingy of revoluble deflectors having curved delecting wings, the axes ol seid delectors being placed in aliriement in a plane parallel to that of the l letter path through the separator, the wings of the different dellectors being increased in length from the first to that et or neer the middle of the group and thence decreased correspondingly to the end of the group whereby the mail pieces may he first dellected et e given angle from their path through the separator and finally ste cked et a. reverse angle thereto,

7. In. s device of the class described, the combination with a separator of e series of revoluhle dellectors having curved venes of varying lengths, the length of said venes be ing successively increased and then decreased in the order of their grouping, e stacking frame end n yielding inail-piece support arranged et en ecute angle to the 'plane of the frame.

In testimony whereof, we have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE A. GASMAN. JOHN T. LYNCH.

Witnesses z D. H. FLETCHER, CARRIE E. JORDAN. 

